M\"ossbauer spectroscopy study of the magnetostructural and spin-state transitions in the breathing pyrochlore LiFeCr$_{4}$O$_{8}$

Abstract

We report on investigations of the complex magnetostructural and spin-state transitions in the breathing pyrochlore LiFeCr$_{4}$O$_{8}$ by means of magnetization, M\"ossbauer spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Three transitions corresponding to the ferrimagnetic transition at $T_N\sim94$ K, the spin-gap transition at $T_{SG}\sim50$ K, and the magnetostructural transition at $T_{MS}\sim19$ K were observed from the $\chi$(T) curve, whereas only $T_N$ and $T_{MS}$ were evidenced for the Fe site from our M\"ossbauer measurements, suggesting that the spin-gap transition is absent at the Fe site. This indicates that the spin-gap transition is an effect of the breathing Cr$_4$ lattice, in agreement with our DFT calculations from which we see nearly decoupled electronic states for the FeO$_4$ and CrO$_6$ units. From the temperature dependence of the hyperfine magnetic field we also observed a spin-state transition for the Fe spins at $T_{MS}$ consistent with earlier neutron diffraction measurements. These local characteristics are believed to be important for a complete understanding of the complex magnetostructural coupling effects observed in similar systems.